Advertisement
Help Keep Boards Alive. Support us by going ad free today. See here: https://subscriptions.boards.ie/.
https://www.boards.ie/group/1878-subscribers-forum

Private Group for paid up members of Boards.ie. Join the club.
Hi all, please see this major site announcement: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427594/boards-ie-2026

Why can nobody speak Irish?

1…4243454748…55

Comments

  • #1322
    Eli Nich
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 106 ✭✭Eli Nich


    Nobody can speak Irish?
    Ask Sheamus he surely will be champion at it.


  • #1323
    Rubeter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 390 ✭✭Rubeter


    Caonima wrote: »
    And again, to repeat what I said earlier, I'm sure this is the case, but this is, again, not what I said. Just for you, I'll say it again:
    Quit the crap.
    I'm comparing the size of the lexis between English and Irish. Not how many words the average person knows :rolleyes: I'm fully aware that the many disciplines of science, social sciences, humanities, arts, business have their own specific vocabulary. Dictionaries exist, people use them, but if English has a far greater lexical range, it allows for greater nuance, specificity, and accuracy.
    You tried to say Irish with 40,000 words is an inferior language to English with 1,000,000 words, I am showing that is a wrong assumption, the number for Irish was out by a huge amount and even the most erudite among us know only numbers in the high tens of thousands.
    The lexical range of English didn't appear out of the blue, (this is the important bit) It developed as needed, as all languages develop words or phrases as needed. Just because there is no English word for Schadenfreude doesn't mean we can't discuss or understand the concept.


  • #1324
    Caonima
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 772 ✭✭✭Caonima


    Rubeter wrote: »
    ... even the most erudite among us know only numbers in the high tens of thousands.

    You continuously labour this point. Of course people have access to only a fraction of the words in the language, but the point I'm trying to make is that there are words in existence in English that they can access if they need to add specificity to what they are saying, to add detail to the concept they are discussing.

    I'm not replying to anything more you say about this issue; I'm getting off the carousel (the Irish word for which, Google tells me, is timpeallán, but when translated using www.irishdictionary.ie is roundabout or traffic circle - not the same thing).


  • #1325
    Dindsenchas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20 ✭Dindsenchas


    Caonima wrote: »
    You continuously labour this point. Of course people have access to only a fraction of the words in the language, but the point I'm trying to make is that there are words in existence in English that they can access if they need to add specificity to what they are saying, to add detail to the concept they are discussing.

    I'm not replying to anything more you say about this issue; I'm getting off the carousel (the Irish word for which, Google tells me, is timpeallán, but when translated using www.irishdictionary.ie is roundabout or traffic circle - not the same thing).

    'Carousel' is not of English origin.Unfortunate choice of word there Confucius.


  • #1326
    Rubeter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 390 ✭✭Rubeter


    Caonima wrote: »
    You continuously labour this point. Of course people have access to only a fraction of the words in the language, but the point I'm trying to make is that there are words in existence in English that they can access if they need to add specificity to what they are saying, to add detail to the concept they are discussing.
    Yes they learn them as needed and if there isn't an English word one is made up, or is developed or used from another language, people don't just go duh! The need to learn the new word is the same irrespective of what language you speak. Surely that is a very simple concept to understand.

    Most English speakers never heard the word dactylion and would have to learn it to have the element of precision you mention, what is the difference between an English speaker learning that new word (that English took from Latin) and an Irish speaker learning that word?

    You would only have a point if people 1. knew all or even most of the words in their respective lexicons, they don't, and 2. If people didn't take from other languages or develop new words as needed, they do.
    I'm not replying to anything more you say about this issue; I'm getting off the carousel (the Irish word for which, Google tells me, is timpeallán, but when translated using www.irishdictionary.ie is roundabout or traffic circle - not the same thing).
    Try the Irish for leg and foot.


  • Advertisement
  • #1327
    Tony EH
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,964 ✭✭✭✭Tony EH


    Dindsenchas wrote: »
    'Carousel' is not of English origin.Unfortunate choice of word there Confucius.

    He didn't say it was. ;)


  • #1328
    Dindsenchas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20 ✭Dindsenchas


    Tony EH wrote: »
    He didn't say it was. ;)

    Confucius doesn't need your words of wisdom!


  • #1329
    Rubeter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 390 ✭✭Rubeter


    Tony EH wrote: »
    He didn't say it was. ;)
    Picking a French word kinda spoilt his/her point a little.


  • #1330
    HansHolzel
    Closed Accounts Posts: 996 ✭✭✭HansHolzel


    Is striapach é an Béarla. Ligean sé gach aon rud isteach. Níl fhios ar bith aige cá raibh an focal roimhe sin.


  • #1331
    Tony EH
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,964 ✭✭✭✭Tony EH


    Rubeter wrote: »
    Picking a French word kinda spoilt his/her point a little.

    Not really. Caonima simply stated that he/she was "...getting off of the Carousel" and looked up the Irish translation for it.

    He never mentioned anything about it being an English word.


  • Advertisement
  • #1332
    PopePalpatine
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,222 ✭✭✭✭PopePalpatine


    HansHolzel wrote: »
    Is striapach é an Béarla. Ligean sé gach aon rud isteach. Níl fhios ar bith aige cá raibh an focal roimhe sin.

    "English is a prostitute. It lets everything in. It doesn't know where it comes from."

    Wait...the evolution of a language is prostitution? No wonder Irish is dying out if it refuses to evolve!


  • #1333
    Dindsenchas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20 ✭Dindsenchas


    Tony EH wrote: »
    Not really. Caonima simply stated that he/she was "...getting off of the Carousel" and looked up the Irish translation for it.

    He never mentioned anything about it being an English word.

    I don't really think you've grasped the irony of what he/she had uttered.You need to read his/her previous posts in relation to the numbers of words in the English lexicon;many of which have been borrowed from other languages,including Irish.


  • #1334
    BQQ
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,264 ✭✭✭BQQ


    Caonima wrote: »

    I'm not replying to anything more you say about this issue; I'm getting off the carousel (the Irish word for which, Google tells me, is timpeallán, but when translated using www.irishdictionary.ie is roundabout or traffic circle - not the same thing).


    Never heard of a homonym?

    Think I'll shoot some arrows with this bow or maybe I'll play the violin with it or just put it in my hair ..... (see what I did there? ;) )


  • #1335
    Rubeter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 390 ✭✭Rubeter


    Tony EH wrote: »
    Not really. Caonima simply stated that he/she was "...getting off of the Carousel" and looked up the Irish translation for it.

    He never mentioned anything about it being an English word.
    Woosh!! right over your head.
    There is no single native English word for Carousel, Merry Go Round would be the English (though even the word round comes from French/Latin), therefore the choice of that word in a discussion about the superiority of the English lexicon, was quite unfortunate.


  • #1336
    Rubeter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 390 ✭✭Rubeter


    PopePalpatine wrote: »
    "English is a prostitute. It lets everything in. It doesn't know where it comes from."

    Wait...the evolution of a language is prostitution? No wonder Irish is dying out if it refuses to evolve!
    Languages are always evolving it is part of what they are.
    Funnily enough people often look at the evolution of Irish with its taking on of many new words as a sign of weakness.
    Seems to many to be a "dammed if you do, dammed if you don't" situation, though the more educated of us know the reality.


  • #1337
    PopePalpatine
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,222 ✭✭✭✭PopePalpatine


    Rubeter wrote: »
    Languages are always evolving it is part of what they are.
    Funnily enough people often look at the evolution of Irish with its taking on of many new words as a sign of weakness.
    Seems to many to be a "dammed if you do, dammed if you don't" situation, though the more educated of us know the reality.

    I could be smart-arsed here and say that reflects on the conservatism of the Irish language lobby, i.e. those who make a living from working for the likes of Conradh na Gaelige, Foras na Gaeilge, Gael Linn etc.


  • #1338
    Tony EH
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,964 ✭✭✭✭Tony EH


    Rubeter wrote: »
    Woosh!! right over your head...

    Still being a wanker yeh. ;)

    Nothing went over my head.


  • #1339
    Tony EH
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,964 ✭✭✭✭Tony EH


    Dindsenchas wrote: »
    I don't really think you've grasped the irony of what he/she had uttered.You need to read his/her previous posts in relation to the numbers of words in the English lexicon;many of which have been borrowed from other languages,including Irish.

    They have simply said that the "...size of the lexis between English and Irish" was different, with English being larger.

    They still mentioned nothing about "carousel" being an English word, however.


  • #1340
    HansHolzel
    Closed Accounts Posts: 996 ✭✭✭HansHolzel


    Rubeter wrote: »
    ...though the more educated of us know the reality.

    Ach, leis an oideachas mór atá agat, níor thuig tú go raibh an chéad ráiteas ("an striapach" srl) ag magadh.


  • #1341
    humanji
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,976 ✭✭✭✭humanji


    HansHolzel wrote: »
    Ach, leis an oideachas mór atá agat, níor thuig tú go raibh an chéad ráiteas ("an striapach" srl) ag magadh.
    The primary language of Boards is English. If you're posting in another language, provide an English translation.


  • Advertisement
  • #1342
    Rubeter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 390 ✭✭Rubeter


    PopePalpatine wrote: »
    I could be smart-arsed here and say that reflects on the conservatism of the Irish language lobby, i.e. those who make a living from working for the likes of Conradh na Gaelige, Foras na Gaeilge, Gael Linn etc.
    You could say it but it would help if you explained what you mean.
    All languages used in modern countries have taken on a huge number of new words through the 20th century.


  • #1343
    HansHolzel
    Closed Accounts Posts: 996 ✭✭✭HansHolzel


    humanji wrote: »
    The primary language of Boards is English. If you're posting in another language, provide an English translation.

    Hmm. Ban me if you like for writing in Irish in my own country but, in the age of Google Translate, you'll look an even bigger poll tóna for it.

    mod:

    banned.


  • #1344
    Acerbus Maximus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10 ✭Acerbus Maximus


    The_Gatsby wrote: »
    Why is it that people in Ireland [...] never learn to speak it fluently?

    The same reason no on ever learns to forge crappy axes and short swords from low quality bronze: it's a now useless skill from our ancient past. Would be cool to have that knowledge, but ultimately useless.

    Also, just like everything else in Irish education before college, it's taught like ****. Learning a new language might be fun for some, being taught how to pass an exam on your rote learned knowledge of a pointless skill isn't fun for anyone.


  • #1345
    Rubeter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 390 ✭✭Rubeter


    HansHolzel wrote: »
    Ach, leis an oideachas mór atá agat, níor thuig tú go raibh an chéad ráiteas ("an striapach" srl) ag magadh.
    Why would you say that? The post I responded to wasn't a joke.


  • #1346
    HansHolzel
    Closed Accounts Posts: 996 ✭✭✭HansHolzel


    Rubeter wrote: »
    Why would you say that? The post I responded to wasn't a joke.

    The comment about the English language being a prostitute was a joke that should have been obvious. Your comment derived from it.


  • #1347
    Rubeter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 390 ✭✭Rubeter


    HansHolzel wrote: »
    The comment about the English language being a prostitute was a joke that should have been obvious. Your comment derived from it.
    Yes it did, so?
    It was an opportunity to show the schizophrenic nature of some of the anti-Irish comments here.


  • #1348
    Iwasfrozen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,250 ✭✭✭✭Iwasfrozen


    HansHolzel wrote: »
    Hmm. Ban me if you like for writing in Irish in my own country but, in the age of Google Translate, you'll look an even bigger poll tóna for it.
    Says he in English...


  • #1349
    Dindsenchas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20 ✭Dindsenchas


    Tony EH wrote: »
    They have simply said that the "...size of the lexis between English and Irish" was different, with English being larger.

    They still mentioned nothing about "carousel" being an English word, however.

    Woosh!!!!;)


  • #1350
    Tony EH
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,964 ✭✭✭✭Tony EH


    Blah blah blah... :rolleyes:


  • Advertisement
  • #1351
    Insect Overlord
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 31,263 Mod ✭✭✭✭Insect Overlord


    I'm not going to bother getting involved in an argument about the language. Some people just won't change their minds, no matter how strong the case is against them.

    What I will say is that there are plenty of Irish speakers, learners and enthusiasts all over the world. There are two good forums on this site (Teach na nGealt for general discussion and a bit of craic, Gaeilge (Irish) for translations, grammar, policy, etc) and a number of respected forums on other sites too (e.g. Daltaí.com, the Irish Learners' Forum, Fóram na Gaeilge). There are new members given access to the Gaeilge Amháin group on Facebook every few days.

    Anybody interested in using the language is more than welcome to join in. Anyone who couldn't be arsed can keep living their lives as normal. Slagging off the language and the people who use it is just silly.


Advertisement
Advertisement